The Making of a Mixed Language: The case of Ma’a/MbuguThe Mbugu (or Ma'á) language (Tanzania) is one of the few genuine mixed languages, reputedly combining Bantu grammar with Cushitic vocabulary. In fact the people speak two languages: one mixed and one closely related to the Bantu language Pare. This book is the first comprehensive description of these languages. It shows that these two languages share one grammar while their lexicon is parallel. In the distant past the people shifted from a Cushitic to a Bantu language and in the process rebuilt a language of their own that expresses their separate ethnic identity in a Bantu environment. This linguistic history is explained in the context of the intricate history of the people. The discussion of the processes that were involved in the formation of Ma'a/Mbugu is extremely relevant for both creole studies and for contact linguistics in general. |
Contents
1 | |
17 | |
3 LINGUISTIC HISTORY | 51 |
4 PHONOLOGY | 95 |
5 THE VERB
| 111 |
6 THE NOUN | 163 |
7 ADJECTIVES AND OTHER NOMINAL MODIFIERS | 175 |
8 INVARIABLES OR OTHER WORDS | 183 |
9 NOTES ON SYNTAX CODESWITCHING AND TEXTS | 197 |
NOTES | 215 |
REFERENCES | 221 |
MBUGUENGLISH ETYMOLOGICAL LEXICON
| 231 |
299 | |
INDEX | 319 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
adjectives agreement allomorph banana Bantu languages Brenzinger Bumbuli cattle causative clan code-switching consonant Cushitic languages Cushitic source Dahalo derived dialect Eastern Cushitic Ehret etymol etymology example goat Gorwaa grammar Gweno head noun high tone I+NMb I+NMb]<Pa I+NMb]<Sh IMb NMb IMb-Bum IMbl Inner and Normal Inner Mbugu Inner Mbugu lexicon Inner Mbugu words Ir/WR Iraqw lateral fricative lexical manipulation linguistic locative Ma'á Maasai Magamba marker Mbugwe meaning language Meinhof mixed languages mology morphemes Mous Nango nasal negative tenses non-Bantu Normal Mbugu North Pare noun class noun class prefix noun class system noun prefix occur Old Kenyan Cushitic origin Oromo parallel lexicon Pare mountains plural Possibly prenasalised preposition pronouns Rangwi root Sagala Shambaa South Pare Southern Cushitic speakers stem subject prefix suffix Swahili syllable Table Taita Thomason tion Usambara mountains verb form voiceless Vudee West-Rift Yaaku Zigua